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metal prints mushin metal prints watercolor metal prints meditation metal prints mind metal prints zen metal prints buddhism metal prints intuition metal prints mindset metal prints martial arts metal prints karate metal prints

paintings mushin paintings watercolor paintings meditation paintings mind paintings zen paintings buddhism paintings intuition paintings mindset paintings martial arts paintings karate paintings

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Mushin is a Japanese term and Zen expression, also used in martial arts. It refers to the mindset I seek when painting. In that state I rely not on thought and judgment, but on my trained instinct or what I feel intuitively in a moment.

For twenty years I sought to enter the state of “mushin” when I paint without fully understanding what I was seeking or having a name for it. Then I stumbled on the name and found resources that helped me understand it and enter it at will. Mushin is a Japanese term and Zen expression, also used in martial arts. It refers to the mental state, the mindset, I seek when painting. In that state I rely not on thought and judgment, but on my trained instinct or what I feel intuitively in a moment. In English, mushin means “no mind.” It is shorthand for the term “mushin no shin” which means “mind without mind.” In the state of mushin the mind is not empty, but is free of distractions such as planning, analysis, criticism, fear,...